Grass-twine machine.



PTENTED JULY 3, 1906.

T. W. BRREMS.

GRASS TWIE 'BAGINEL Y Y Y .if 2.5- 2

4 A EE Q z *Y W l? UNITED OFFICE.

THOMAS W. JERREMS, F ST. BAUL, MINNESGTA.

GRASS-Twins arson-HNE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 3, 1906.

appresa ses sans ss, iger. sain so. 229.549.

'o aZZ whom. it may concern Be it known that I, TnoMAs W. Jeannine, acitizen oi the United States, residing at St.

Paul, in the county of Ramsey and State of in operative condition.

To the above ends the invention consists of the novel devices andcombinations of devices hereinafter described, and defined in theclaims.

The improved machine is illustrated in the accompanying drawings,wherein like characters indicate like parts throughout the severalviews.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan View of the completemachine. Fig. Z.V 1s a transverse vertical section taken ap;proxirnateiy on the line :c2 :v2 of Fig. 1, sonic parts beinp` brokenaway. Fig. 3 is Vafside elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 2. Fig.

4 is a detail in section on the line x* sa* of Fig.

2. Fi 5 is a horizontal section on the liineV x5 x5 o Fig. 2. Fio'. 6 isa horizontal section @n ne line e me eirig. 2. rig. i e s View ehiefiyin horizontal section, but with some parts in full, illustrating` theconstruction of one of the twisting devices. Fig. 8 is e. verticallongitudinal section on the line :es 3:3 of Fig. 1 vsonic parts beingremoved and some partsV beingbroken away. Fig. 9 is a transL versesection on the line zu of Fig. 8, and Fig. i() is a transverse verticalsection Aon the line mi of Fig. S.

The numeral 1 indicates an elongated skel eton frame which, as shown, istransversely rtended at one end, as indicated at 1.

Rigidly securedron the lateral extensions 1 of the'rerne 1 -is a catedbearingedesta 2, which are set at an oblique ang e to each other.Rigidly secured to the upper portions of the pedestals 2, as shown; bymeans of bars 3 are concave 1pair of upright bifur-4 plates or hoppers4, which afford grass-holders that stand forward of the said pedestals.

In this machine I employ what may be conveniently designated as primaryfeed devices or selectors and "secondary feed devicesJ the former ofwhich operate to feed the grass laterally downward from the holder andthe latter of which receive the grassblades from said primaryfeedldevices and feed the saine endwise in a regular order of successionto the twine-forming mechanism. The primary feed devices are of thegeneral form and construction disclosed and broadly claimed in my priorpatent, No. 745,625, issued of date December l, 1903. e11titled.llfiachine for making grass twine. The secondary feed device is made up of apair of upright roliers having cooperating surfaces that i diverge fromeach other and cause the grass to be fed between the rollers by downwardlaterai movement.

Feed mechonism-The numeral 5 indi- Cates a oroup of threevertically-disposed feed blades or bars having serrated inner edges 6and upwardly-divergin edge surfaces 7 above said serrations. t one sidetreo of the feedblades 5 are located parallel to each other, but arespaced apart laterally7 Vwhiie the one co erating blade on the otherside is so locate( that it Works in a plane passinv between thecoperatin blades on the et er side, as best shown in Sig. 6. TheVcoerating inclined edees of the said Vbla es form an upivardy-dirersingcrotch which leads downward to the saiil serrations 6 of the feedble.desand is adapted to receive the butt-ends of the grassbiarles, which areheld in a loose bundie or bunch by the holder 4. The feed-blades 5 areguided for true vertical movenients by adjustable guide-boxes 8, which,asl shown, are secured to the pedestal 2 by slot-and-screw connections9. Gne of the Cfuide-boiesV is subject to a set-screw 10, which worksthrough a lug ,11 in one prong of theV pedestal and inipinges againstbearings on the pedestal 2.

The two cranks or eccentrics 13 are set one hundred and eighty degreesapart, so that the blades on one side will be moved u Iward while theblade on the other side will e moving downward.` The shaft14 carries abevel-pinion 15 and groov'd pulley or sheave 16. The said cranks 13 haveshort throw, usually about one-half of an inch. The two blades 5 whichstand side by side are tied together and connected for common movementsto the same crank-rod 12.

The upright rollers which constitute the secondary feed device aredesignated by the numeral 17, and their cooperating crotchforminsurfaces 17a are formed at their uper en s by turning the said rollersconical.

he trunnions at the reduced upper ends of the rollers are journaled inbearing-brackets 18, that are rigidly secured to the prongs of thepedestal-bearin 2. The trunni'ons at the lower ends of sai rollers arejournaled in bearings 19 on the pedestal 2, and are provided withintermeshing ears 20, and one of said trunnlons is provi ed with abevelear 21,'

that meshes with the pinion '15 of t e shaft 14 before described. Theconical ends 17 of the rollers 17 are so located and related t'o theserrated edges of the feed-blades 5 that they will guide the butt-endsof the' grassblades which are fed laterally downward by said feed-bladesbetween the contacting or coperating surfaces of the said rollers. Itwill be noted that the bodies of the rollers 17 have greater diameter attheir lower ends than at their upper body portions.` This givesthe saidrollers greater peripheral speed at their lower ends than at theirintermediate or upper end portions. The primary and secondary feeddevices above described are of course applied to both of the bearingpedestals 2. The said secondary feed. devices are disclosed and broadlyclaimed in my com anion application, Serial No. 229,548, filedj of evendate herewith, entitled Grasstwine machine. The secondary feeddevices-to wit, the rollers 17--feed the grass-blades endwise intoconverging and inclined spouts 22, supported by the frame 1.

1MM-forming mechanism.-Ri idly held by bearings .23 of a bracket 24 ontlie frame 1 in axial alinelnent one with each of the diverging spouts22 is a pair of non-rotary gui e sleeves or tubes 25, which at theirrearwardly-projecting ends are formed with threa s 26, that constitutenon-rotary worms. Spaeed apart from but in axial line with eachguide-sleeve 25 is another non-rotary guidetube 27. These guide-tubes 27are rigidly supported by bearings 28 on the bracket 24, ounted to rotateon the guide-sleeves25 and 27 is a pair of gear-carriers orsupporting-frames 29.. These gear-carriers 29 are thus mounted on axesthat converge toward.

the rear of the machine, and on the forward hub of each is a sheave 30.A wedge-shaped anvil or divider 3]. is rigidly supported just at therear of the converging ends of the guidesleeves 27, theA same, as shown,being directly secured to the bracket 24.

In Fig. 7 the character z indicates one of the two twisted strands ofgrass which are to be twisted together to form the complete twine or roe. These strands pass through the alined s eeves 25 and 27 and as theyare passing from the former to the latter they are engaged by and passedbetween a pair of cooperating eri erally grooved drawin wheels 32, t e safts 33 of which are mounted in the side plates of the carrier 29. Thesaid shafts 33 carry intermeshing gears 34 and are directl journale'd inbearingboxes 35, that are sli ably mounted in the slde' plates of therevolvingearrier 29, and are subject to springs -which springsyieldingly press the drawwheels onto the strands of the twine. The gears34 mesh with gears 36, that are fixedon stub-shafts 37, journaled in theside plates of ,the carrier 29 and provided with worm-gears 38, thatengage with the common worm 26 on the corresponding sleeve 25. With thewormand-gear connections just described 1t is evident that when thegear-carrier 29 is rotated the draw-wheels 32 will be caused to revolvearound the strands of the twine, thereby twisting the same, and will becaused to rotate on their own axes in the direction indicated by thearrows marked thereon, in Fig. 7, thereby drawin the strands toward therear of the machine. The said device is therefore a combined twister anddrawing device. The two twisted strands of the 4twine after passing outof the guide-sleeves 27 enter a common centrally-located non-rotarysleeve `39, and from thence they are wound onto a reeling-spool and atthe same time are twisted together by the rotary movement of thelreeling mechanism.

Keeling mechanism.-A .rectan ular reelframe 40 is mounted to rotate on te rear end of the non-rotar guide-sleeve 39 and on a stub-.shaft 41, wich shaft 41 is rigidly secured in a fixed Vbearing on the frame 1, isaxially'alined with said sleeve 39, andv is provided on itsforwardly-projecting end with a bevel-pinion 42. The pinion 42mesheswith a bevelear 43, which is carried -by a counter-sha t 44, that isextended transversely of and loosely journaled in the revolving frame40.

The numeral 45 indicates a windlass spool or drum onto which the comleted twine is wound. This spool-is preferably of theoonstructiondisclosed in my companion application, Serial No. 229,548, aboveidentified.

IOO

For'the purposes of this case itis only necesl sary to state that it ismounted to rotate on bearin s on the sides of the revolving frame 10 am?is connected to rotate with a pair of small pulleys 46 and 47. A belt48runs over 'the pulley 46 `and over a ulley 49 carried versely-threadedrod 52, that extends transversely of the revolving frame 40 and is jour:

naled on the sides thereof. `The numeral 53 indicates a travelingreversible ide which works on the rod 52 and throng which the twine ispassed on its Way to the spool '45. The said screw-rod 52 and travelingguide 53 operate as a deployer to spreadfgont the twine la, ers on thewindlass-spooli VTheyare of stan ard construction, the operation ofwhich is Well understood, and hence further illustration is notnecessary for the purposes of this ease.

A long counter-shaft 54 extends longitudinally of the frame --l'f and isjournaled in suitable bearings on the lower ortion thereof, as bestshown in Fig. 8. his countershaft 54 carries drivingfsheaves 54, 5 5,and 56. Motion may be imparted to the shaft 54' by 'any suitable means.(Not shown.) A cord belt 57 runs over the sheave 56 and over a sheave40l on one hub of the revolvin frame 40 to impart motion to the latter.E cord belt 58 mns over the sheave, over the two sheaves 30 of theprimary twisters, and over a guide-sheave 59, which is loosely mountedon a transverse beam of the frame 1. `By this belt 58 motion is impartedto the rotating' parts of the two prima strandtwsters. A cord belt 60runs over t e sheave V54, over the sheave 16 of the two crankshafts 14,and over idle guidesheaves 61 and 621, mounted, respectively, on bearin-bracke'ts 63 and 64, rigidly supported` by t e framesection 1*.

0pcmtfion-The grass, the blades of which are arran odiaproximatelyparallel, is placed in loose un es in the depressions of theholder-plate 4 and with its butt-ends rest-f ing in the crotchesafforded by the surfaces' f the butt-ends of the grass-blades betweenthe oppsng surfaces of the bodies of the rollers 17, and the saidrollers upon taking hold of the grass-blades will feed .the sameendwise- Into the sponts or inclined troughs 22, by

Y vwhich they will be directed in two equal streams mto thenon-rotaxy-guide-sleeves 25,

between the cooperating rawin'gfwheels 32, and thence throuhlthence-'rotary idesleeves' 27. As y pointed` ou the 'mass-blades aretwisted into strands and rawn rearward by the simultaneous rotary andrevolving movements of' the drawingwheels, imparted theretomldertheniovemento the ,revolving carrier 29, The man YVser' 'in whichthe VtwoV ta's'gs'tedV Vstrands are twisted together and Wond'npon theWlndlass-'spool 45 under the rotary movement of theframe 40 has alreadybeen described.

Y The size of the strands ofthe twine-that is the amount of rass twistedinto each strandmay be varie by varying the relative feed of the rimaryfeed device, afforded by the serrated) feed-blades, with 'respect to thespeed of the secondary feed device, afforded Iby the rollers 17, and, asalready stated, this relative feed of the primary feed device mayV bevaried tat Willv-by adjusting the opposing serrated feed-blades ed ewisewith respect to -each other.

The so-c led feed blades or bars may of course take a great many different'forms, andV various devices may be em plo ed for adjusting them withrespectVV to eac other so as to va the amount of' rlss `which they willtake up and feed for eac reciprocating movement. In my prior patentabove identidad no means whatever was provided for adjusting thefeed-blades with respect to Acach other so as to vary their feed inaction.

romwhat has been said it will be "under-V stood that the mechanism abovedescribed is capable of modification within the scope of my invention asherein set forth and claimed.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, iS. as fol-` lows: r

'1'. In a machine of the character described, a feedin device comprisingopposin blades V:1r-bars aving cooperating Serrat edges and means orvibrating one or more of sai blades or bars,I to produce the feedingaction,

and a air of cooperating rollers having surand` a pair of uprig tfeed-rollers havingupper end surfaces that diverge from each` other andare sitioned to receive the ends 'faces t atI diverge from each otherand. are

'IIO

'of the grass-b ade's fed thereto by said feed a common device ortwistintogether the severalatrands;sad rimary` eedng devices comprising each ap urality of coperating serratedfeed blades or bars, and .means forvibrating one ormerethereof, to produeethe feeding actionyand saidsecondaryieed devices comprising each a pairvocoperating rollershavingendsuraces that divergemm each otherand are positioned to receivethe grass-bledes from the corres ending' rimary feed device, and todirect't esame tween said rollers, under lateral movements,substantially as descrbied.

4. In a machine of the character deseri bed, the .combination with lopposing .verticallydisposed feed blades or bars having coper-.atingserrated edges and diverging upper end sllritees,l of means for.vibrating one or more of said blades or barsftoproduee the feedingaction, a pair of cooperating upright feedrollers geared togetherattheir lower ends, and provided with conieal upper ends, said conicalends .affording a crotch for directing the rass-blades betweenseidrollers as they are ad-downward "h -saidfeedwbladee and twine-forming mechanism receiving the grass-blades from said rollers,substantially asdeseribed.

.In testimeny'iwhereeflax my signature in presence offtwo witnesses.

THGMAS W. JERREMS. Witnesses:

ROBERT- C. MABEY, F; D. Menen/NT-

